Nokia chief financial officer Timo Ihamuotila pointed out that his company would be willing to sell some of their patents if the price was right. The admission came during a conference call pertaining to a second-quarter profit warning and the announcement of a restructuring effort that took place yesterday.
The executive said that Nokia would be able to sell patents while still maintaining a strong portfolio of intellectual property. This seems like a fair assessment as the communications corporation owns around 30,000 patents and an additional 10,000 patent innovations. They typically pump out around 1,000 new patentable innovations each year.
The idea to sell patents for quick cash is a direct result of the restructuring effort that was announced yesterday. In it, Nokia said they would be cutting 10,000 jobs or the equivalent to nearly 20 percent of their global workforce by the end of 2013. A handset factory and several research centers are among the physical casualties of the plan.
Nokia share prices continue to fall as multiple ratings agencies have moved the stock to non-investment grade status. The latest to do so is Moody's with a "junk" rating citing concern over their cash position and slow adoption of Windows phones.
"Today's rating action reflects our view that Nokia's far-reaching restructuring plan... delineates a scale of earnings pressure and cash consumption that is larger than we had previously assumed," said Moody's analyst Wolfgang Draack.
Reuters points out that at least 10 other brokerages have cut price targets on Nokia's shares based on the fact that they have lost 50 percent of their value since the beginning of 2012.